Method of forming a piece of flexible linear jewelry, and jewelry produced thereby

ABSTRACT

Starting with an article of the so-called “gas pipe” type which is formed from two concatenated spiral components ( 1, 3 ) and is deformed into a noncircular configuration, the article is cut lengthwise ( 7 ) to cut the turns of the two components, which remain connected without relative movements.

DESCRIPTION

The prior art includes jewelry—usually in the form of necklaces orbracelets or the like—composed of two helically deformed componentsconcatenated together in such a way that one of them is on the outsideand highly visible (in an annular configuration) while the other isinternal and therefore less visible. These structures are of theso-called “gas pipe” type. The configuration may be circular in outlinebut is more frequently of a flattened outline, the helical turns beingdeformed to assume a cross section more consonant with the function ofthe jewelry, the final cross section may be a circular segment with abase.

In the abovementioned conditions, which are known e.g. from C.B.A.1,593,830, the jewelry has limited flexibility, which is not verysatisfactory in terms of requirements of deformability, which areinadequate.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a more flexible andtherefore “softer” piece of jewelry than has been obtained in the past,and the possibility of lengthening it without increasing the number ofturns. Another object is to obtain an improved appearance for the samelinear weight, or indeed for less weight and always with enhancedflexibility. These and other objects and advantages will become clear onreading the text that follows.

An initial subject of the invention is a method of forming a piece offlexible linear jewelry, starting with an article of the so-called “gaspipe” type which is formed from two concatenated spiral components andis deformed into a noncircular configuration; according to the inventionthe article is cut lengthwise to cut the turns of said two components,which turns remain connected without relative movements; in this waygreater flexibility is provided than that provided by the startingmaterial.

In an advantageous development of the invention, two lengthwiseincisions are made a distance apart and the segments of turn situatedbetween the two incisions are removed. This achieves a further advantageof lower weight for equal aesthetic effect, in addition to greaterflexibility.

In a piece of jewelry which is deformed with flattening and inparticular with a section having limited curvature to the point of beingalmost planar, said incision or incisions may be made in said section.

For greater refinement, and also for greater stability and comfort, theends of the cut turns may be bent in.

Another subject of the invention is a piece of linear jewelry initiallyformed with two helical components concatenated and deformed into anoncircular configuration; according to the invention in said piece ofjewelry the turns of each of the two components are interrupted by atleast one cut, the ends of the interrupted turns of the two componentsbeing substantially aligned with each other.

In practice and advantageously, the turns of the two components may lacka segment from a section having reduced or no curvature of the turns,the ends of the interrupted turns being substantially aligned in thelengthwise direction.

The ends of the interrupted turns may be bent in.

A clearer understanding of the invention will be gained from thedescription and attached drawing, which latter shows a practical,non-restrictive example of the invention. In the drawing:

FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show in a partly sectioned external view, in atransverse section on II—II as marked in FIG. 1 and in a local sectionon III—III as marked in FIG. 1, a conventional piece of jewelry of theso-called “gas pipe” type having the cross section of a circular segmentwith a base;

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 show views similar to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of the piece ofjewelry made in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 7 shows a cross section similar to that of FIG. 5, illustrating afurther modification of the piece of jewelry according to the invention;

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a view taken on VIII—VIII as marked in FIG. 2 and onIX—IX as marked in FIG. 5, in the curved configurations of the jewelryin the conventional configuration and of the jewelry according to theinvention, to illustrate their different capacities for curvature;

FIGS. 10 and 11 show views similar to FIGS. 5 and 7 of an alternativeembodiment of the invention.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1-3, a piece of jewelry, such as a necklace orbracelet—of the so-called “gas pipe” type is composed of two profiledcomponents 1 and 3, external and internal respectively, which arespiral-shaped and which engage with each other in their successiveturns, so as to interlock mutually; in this way the two components 1 and3 are held together but are capable of limited movements as can be seenby the difference between the configuration shown on the left and rightwhen viewing FIG. 3, because of the possibility of limited elasticflexing of the two components. This allows a limited curvature of thejewelry article owing to the ability to execute slight angular movementbetween the various turns. In some particular versions, the tubularso-called “gas pipe” jewelry, rather than having a more or less circularcross section of the turns, exhibits deformation of the two coiledcomponents, so that the overall cross section of the article isflattened, for example—and in particular, as clearly visible in FIG.2—with an outline in the form of a circular segment with a base,comprising one section, consisting of the sections 1A and 3A of the twocomponents 1, 3 that is more or less straight or of very limitedcurvature; even in this version, the deformation, i.e. the curvature,can take place either in a plane corresponding to that of the plane ofthe drawing of FIG. 1 or in a plane perpendicular to that of FIG. 1. Thearticle and a piece of jewelry produced from this article, of knowntype, therefore presents a defect due to the limited capacity of thearticle for curvature, when in fact it is preferable for the jewelry tobe much more supply and pliably malleable, that is “softer”, withpreferably much smaller radii of curvature, that is with much sharpercurvature than that obtained with articles of the known type of FIGS.1-3.

To reach this object, according to the invention, in an initial articlehaving noncircular turns (or even turns of the cross sectioncorresponding to that of FIG. 2), the turns of each of the two helicalcomponents are interrupted by at least one lengthwise cut; in an articlehaving the cross section shown in FIG. 2 the cut is made advantageouslyin the sections 1A and 3A which are straight or at any rate of limitedcurvature, generally convex toward the exterior. A single lengthwise cutcan be made as marked 5 in FIG. 10, or two separate parallel lengthwisecuts can be made as seen in FIGS. 4 and 5. This gives a piece of jewelryin which the turns remain connected to each other to prevent relativeangular movement but with truncated ends as marked 5 in FIG. 10 and 7 inFIGS. 4 and 5; in FIG. 6 the cut ends 7 are differentiated as indicatedby 7 ₁ and 7 ₃, referring to the way in which component 1 and component3 are cut. The cuts 7, that is 7 ₁ and 7 ₃, remain essentially coplanarbecause the turns interrupted by the cuts are unable to make angularmovements owing to the non-circumferential form of the turns themselves.In the case of FIGS. 5-7 and FIG. 9 there are two parallel cuts 7,clearly visible in FIGS. 4 and 5, and the segments of the turns 1 and 3situated between the two cuts 7 are removed, which reduces the weight ofthe jewelry without affecting its apparent dimensions, compared with theconventional piece in which the turns are complete as shown in FIGS.1-3. In FIG. 10 the single lengthwise cut 5 rules out the possibility ofremoving a segment of turn from either of the components such as 1 and3. The cut and now independent turns of each of the components 1 and 3can be separated from each other as far as permitted by the connectionrepresented by the turns of the other component, which means that it ispossible to extend the article, without the elastic flexing of thehelical components 1 and 3, and a greater curvature of the article inthe various planes is also possible.

As can be seen in FIGS. 7 and 10 in particular, the truncated endsmarked 1X and 3X can be slightly bent in, i.e. toward the concave partof the respective turns, to give a better finish than an unbent cut asshown in FIGS. 5 and 10. Obviously, whichever solution is adopted, thecuts 7 and therefore the ends 1X and 3X can be suitably rounded at thecut edges, to eliminate excessively angular cut parts of jewelry.

Whatever the configuration is of the article modified in accordance withthe invention and as illustrated in FIGS. 4-7 and 9-11, it is much moreflexible and therefore capable of much greater curvature both in theplane corresponding to the plane of the drawing of FIGS. 1 and 4 and ofFIGS. 8 and 9, and in a plane perpendicular to that of said FIGS. 1, 4,8 and 9. This therefore avoids the disadvantages mentioned above ofjewelry constructed with the so-called “gas pipe” of FIGS. 1 and 3(however the turns are configured), thus giving a piece of jewelry thatis decidedly more desirable from the esthetic and even functional pointsof view. The article can be pulled out longer than the starting articleof FIGS. 1-3 which is tied to the lengthwise elastic flexing of the twohelical components 1 and 3. When two parallel cuts such as 7 in FIGS.4-6 and 9 are used, with consequent removal of the segmentscorresponding to the sections of turns situated between the two cuts 7,the article also becomes lighter for equal length and without alteringthe apparent dimensions when looking toward the more curved side of thecross section of the piece of jewelry, i.e. the side without the cuts 7.The advantage achieved by this is both functional and economical and isdue to the reduced weight, which is important both for the use of thejewelry itself and also for the saving in terms of precious metals withwhich such jewelry is usually made. It will be clear that theconfiguration of the cross section of the jewelry can be changed fromthose illustrated in the drawing, provided however the turns have anoncircular configuration, to prevent angular movement between theinterrupted turns, as such angular movement might otherwise allowdisassembly of the constituent parts of the turns, separated as they areby the cuts, or at least to prevent binding of the various portions ofadjacent turns, with a return to the characteristics of the structuresof the “gas pipe” without the lengthwise cuts of the invention.

It will be understood that the drawing shows only an example purely as apractical demonstration of the invention, which latter can be varied inits shapes and arrangements without however departing from the scope ofthe concept on which the invention is based. The presence of anyreference numbers in the appended claims is for the purpose offacilitating the reading of the claims with reference to the descriptionand drawing, and does not limit the scope of protection represented bythe claims.

The cross section of each of the components 1 and 3 may of course bedifferent to that shown in the drawing.

What is claimed is:
 1. An article of flexible linear jewelry fabricatedfrom two helical components (1, 3) concatenated and deformed into anoncircular configuration, each of the two helical components includinga plurality of adjacently-connected helical turns, characterized in thatthe turns of each of the two helical components (1, 3) are interruptedby at least one cut (5,7) so as to provide a plurality of interruptedturns having end portions (1X and 3X) , the end portions (1X, 3X) of theinterrupted turns of the two helical components being at leastapproximately aligned in a lengthwise direction.
 2. The article ofjewelry as set forth in claim 1, further characterized in that the endportions (1X, 3X) of the interrupted turns are bent inwardly.
 3. Thearticle of jewelry as set forth in claim 1, further characterized inthat the turns of the two components (1, 3) lack a segment from asection having reduced or no curvature of the turns, the end portions(1X, 3X) of the interrupted turns being at least approximately alignedin a lengthwise direction.
 4. An article of jewelry as set forth inclaim 3, further characterized in that the end portions (1X, 3X) of theinterrupted turns are bent inwardly.
 5. A method of forming a piece offlexible linearjewelry from two concatenated spiral components, eachcomponent including a plurality of adjacently-connected helical turns,the method including the steps of: (a) deforming the concatenated spiralcomponents into a noncircular configuration, and (b) cutting theconcatenated spiral components lengthwise (5, 7) to interrupt the turnsof each of said two components (1, 3), which turns remain connectedwithout relative angular movements.
 6. The method of claim 5, whereinthe step of deforming includes the step of flattening the jewelry with asection (1A, 3A) of limited curvature such that the section is almostplanar, and wherein the step of cutting is performed by making anincision (5) or incisions (7, 7) in said section.
 7. The method of claim5, further including the step of bending the ends (1X, 3X) of the cutturns inwardly.
 8. The method of claim 5, wherein the step of cutting isperformed by making two lengthwise incisions (7, 7) a distance apart anda portion of turns situated between the two incisions is removed.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, further including the step of flattening the jewelryto include at least a section (1A, 3A) of limited curvature to the pointof being almost planar, and characterized in that the step of cuttingincludes making an incision (5) or incisions (7, 7) in the section.